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It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine

It's Psychedelic Baby is an independent, music magazine. We are covering alternative, underground, non-commercial and non-mainstream artists in variety of shapes and genres. Exclusive interviews, reviews and articles. A place where musicians can express themselves. We serve an international readership.

Before Christmas, I
decided I wanted to try peyote. I had been told that under its influence I
would discover my patterns of self-delusion. That really sounded interesting. I
was also very curious about hallucinations. I wanted some of those. So
Tom and I went to the Dollar Sign, where I got seven caps, the equivalent of
seven peyote buttons.The buttons were green and squat, sort of pincushion
shape and around two or three inches across, give or take. They were covered
with white cotton-like things that looked like the end of Q-Tips. You were
supposed to remove those first.

“There was an actual turning point from the 60’s to now, and that was in 1973 when the Teac 3340S entered the commercial market. At an affordable price, the Teac gave you the same multi-track capabilities as those four track studios of the 60’s. Another technology of the time was the Univox SR55 drum machine. Together, the Teac and drum machine started the home recording revolution - the complete self containment for songwriters of which is the norm today. One of the earliest examples of this technology is Springdale ’73.”

Eric Robert Olson was their lead vocalist and songwriter. The Next Five released three singles. Last one being under the name of Toy Factory. A must read for garage-rock fans.

Your music often has a dark, kind of creepy mood. Why do you like that sound and mood?

Well, I just like it. I like the melodies that I play to be ambiguous, evocative and kind of visual. And sometimes I like to put emotions into the music. Within that frame dark and creepy moods just have much more potential. At least for me.

Yes the Doctor is the last of the best. As I’ve said before I first encountered the Doctor on a late night Progressive Radio Station WDAS, in Philadelphia, which broadcast heady material in the early sixties for only a couple of hours each night. Can you imagine being a young teenager laying in bed, the only light coming from the back of a plastic AM/FM radio and hearing “I Walked On Gilded Splinters.” I knew my musical life was in for an adventure.

Bruce Russell is the anti-Guitar Hero, preferring the sounds that any ‘regular’ guitar player tries to avoid. The title of his latest LP tells you exactly what you can expect from the music on the record: Howling And Instability At High Volume Settings. It is my favourite record of 2016.

Next issue of Psychedelic Baby is almost ready. It will be available worldwide. More details and links to order in the following days.

Dedicated to British underground folk boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s. There are interviews with members of Incredible String Band, Comus, Spirogyra, Fairport Convention,Fresh Maggots, Trees, COB, Magna Carta, Sunforest, Oberon, Pererin, and many others.

There is a strong affinity between the Christmas and psychedelics that is evidently demonstrated by some kind of magic mushroom which is a symbol that has adorned Christmas trees since the inception and popularization of Christmas tradition.

Many people are completely oblivious of the psychedelic history of the Christmas tradition which is embodied by amanita muscaria. The amanita mushroom is a psychedelic plant that has been responsible for igniting many religions and esoteric practices. Needless to say that this type of fungus is extremely toxic and can be fatal for humans.

The similarities are so many that it would not be unfounded to assume the Christmas tradition was born from psychedelic origins.

On this, Harvey Mandel’s fourth album with ‘snake’ in the title, we find his choice of album artwork to be inspired by his sensational first outing Cristo Redentor, perhaps signifying that in a fashion, the man has come full circle … and I assure you that as the opening track ebbs into your listening space, you’re gonna feel the fabric of time shimmer.

While the band It Hugs Back has never been high on my radar since I discovered them several years ago, they have never been off of my radar either … with the release of Slow Wave moving them back to within earshot.

Jawbones was started by Leonard Kaage, in late 2014, as a result of performing with and for many other bands and projects such as: The Blue Angel Lounge, Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe, Tracy Bryant and many more. Together with four other like-minded musicians Jawbones, have developed a unique personality and sound that hovers somewhere over the psychedelic scene in the late 60´s but brought to a modern perspective. Jawbones have so far supported bands like The Underground Youth, The Warlocks, The Shivas, Holy Wave, with more.

Dies Irae was a short-lived band from Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany. Started as a blues inspired band, soon to become a heavy psych band that was driven by progressive guitar and lots of crazy effects. Their political sharpened lyrics and criticism of the times brought a lot of trouble to the band. Their only release was First. In the following interview we discuss the recording process with Conny Plank, LSD-inspired lyrics, making of “Trip” footage and many more.

As the second track says, “I can’t stop working …” and the man delivers yet again, finally shifting gears and getting back to his solid roots, making me feel that Indian Summer has just been extended for a couple more days with Neil Young laying out a barnstorming fury of what I can only describe as a laid back plugged-in acoustic record filled with intelligence and commentary on the social condition of this un-United States of America. As I listen I have flashes of the Jefferson Airplane clawing at the walls of the establishment, and if we ever needed anyone clawing at the walls, it’s now, though I am surprised that Neil Young is still the man dedicated to raising that fist.

The second
of three Liberman albums reissued by Out-Sider (with liner notes from our
editor) is a little more ballsy than his debut, from the ferocious bluesy stomp
of ‘I Can’t Change’ and the funky ‘Rock Or Roll Me’ (note the subtle change
from the expected in the title!), to the sexy strut of ‘Life Is Just A Show’,
which finds Liberman in his Elvis mode, as does ‘Woman’, which might stray a
tad too far into a lounge lizard routine. Although Liberman is obviously having
fun with himself and his listeners.

Still, there is time for strolling through
the park or lying in the grass and staring at the clouds while listening to the
crispy, jazzy licks of the evocative ‘Springtime’, and spacey, electronic
interludes like ‘A Myopic Euphoria’ alter the pace and mood and inject a little
fun into the set. The title track and ‘Soft and Tasty’ are both
self-referential/self-explanatory instrumentals that are, indeed, quite tasty,
and closer ‘Transition’ has an easy going, jazzy groove that did indeed point
towards Liberman’s transition in a more jazz direction on his next album,
despite the abrupt about-face midway through into roaring rock territory that
also plays off the song’s title!

Roll up! Roll up for the magical mystery tour! Step right this way! … hear twelve up and coming psychedelic bands trip the light fantastic and dare to cover The Beatles’ 1967 sensational Magical Mystery Tour. Well that’s not quite right, there are twelve bands covering songs from The Beatles hazy psychedelic past, and some of the songs are taken from that relentless album, though it is not a cover of the album proper.

Iceland’s Singapore Sling formed in 2000 and are seen as one of the original purveyors of the experimental neo-psychedelia people have come to love today – their influence touching nearly every fabric of the modern psych scene.

With their ninth LP Kill Kill Kill(Songs About Nothing) set for release next year via Fuzz Club Records, Henrik and co are now sharing the first single ‘Evil Angel’.

‘Evil Angel’ is a haunting and deliberately uncomfortable affair, drifting from the hazy splendour of previous releases for a more disjointed and experimental pastiche.

The track is propelled by discordant horns and a totally incessant and scuzzy bass-line that roils deep into your conscious from start to finish. Partner this with the echoing, atonal vocals of Henrik and the chugging, vapour-trail guitars and what you’ve got is Singapore Sling at their most sinister, immersive and unforgiving.

Strange name for a guy, one Chas Kinnis, who apparently took his nom de group from a track on the Bunny & The Invalid Singers album (also on Bearsuit). Perhaps Annie, Bunny, and Chas are three sides of the same alternative universe Kinnis inhabits. In any event, this follow-up to the split he released earlier this year withIppu Mitsui runs roughshod through his collection of electronic instruments with varying degrees of noise, experimentation, and melodicism. Perky proggy syncopated motifs run through ‘Time’, with perhaps a little Herbie Hancock-styled funk tossed in for fun and games – the whistling that morphs into meowing cats is fun, too! And that’s been Kinnis’ modus operandi for most of his material that I’ve heard: kitchen sink arrangements and about-faces that combine multiple genres and styles into the same track, never allowing the listener to get comfortable or complacent. It’s usually not an easy listening experience, but always a rewarding one.

Released on a Friday sold out
by Monday: not bad for a musician performing for a change under his own name
rather than a forty-year pseudonym! The genre is very different, but there are
elements of the earlier time in that it is a trip in wide scope due to style
and textures.

In 1966 Bob Dylan knew that he was completely stepping out of the folk flavors that gave him a foot in door, allowing him to venture into the fledgling folk-rock era, where with Blonde On Blonde he would flatten the world under the weight of his hazy, nearly psychedelic presentation, that still today, remains to most fans as his most potent, productive, and magical album. In that same year he and his hired guns turned their eyes east and headed across the pond into Beatle-land, where standing behind an American flag, he let the world know where the magical mystery tour really began.

Beginning their career as young bluesmen back in the 60’s, The Rolling Stones have finally, and I mean finally returned to those earthy roots, along with the sound that returned America to its roots during those early years. Blue & Lonesome is filled with insinuatingly hot liquid lyrics, matched only by an equal amount of guitar affection, sounding effortless and spontaneous as they roll through numbers by their early heroes.

No Clear Mind is a Greek band based between Athens and London. Their music traverses the wider spectre of rock, with heavy influences from genres such as ambient and psychedelic dream pop. They have released two full length albums, toured different countries in Europe and gained followers from all around the world, while Makena is their third full length LP coming out on December 1st, 2016.

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Psychedelic Folk issue available

Dedicated to British psychedelic folk. New issue of printed version projected from the well-known, leading psych on-line site It’s Psychedelic Baby. After the previous issue covering exclusively the US psychedelic folk scene (IPB 002, 2016), this new issue covers the 1960s and 1970s British folk scene, with exclusive interviews of members from acts such as Fresh Maggots, Comus, Mellow Candle, Dr Strangely Strange, Spirogyra, C.O.B., Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Pererin, Courtyard Music Group, Magic Carpet, Sunforest, Oberon, etc. Also includes a few pages of record reviews. Cover by Justin Jackley.